As the zombie landed flat on his back, Charlie jumped over its flailing arms and swung at the zombie’s head, intending to nail it from the top. The zombie had other ideas, rolling away and letting the tomahawk slam into its shoulder. Charlie left it there and the zombie stood up with the ‘hawk sticking out of it like a big toothpick on a rotten hors devours. It started for him again and Charlie sidestepped the lunging arms and swung at the back of its head. The axe blade bit deep with a sound like a watermelon being dropped, and the zombie stumbled forward, falling on its face, dead for good.
Charlie approached the zombie with his gun out in case the damn thing didn’t know it was dead. But it was and Charlie retrieved his weapons. Tommy and I exchanged looks, and Tommy said “Looks like that was a fast one.”
“Yeah.” I said. “I hope they all don’t get like that or we are going to have serious trouble.”
Charlie joined us. “Thanks for the warning on the fast ones. That little bastard nearly threw my timing off.”
“Dead is dead. You did fine.” I said. I looked at the zombie he killed. Something was wrong about it. “Hey, guys. Look at that Z over there. What’s wrong with him?
Charlie looked at him and shrugged. “He’s a born-again corpse. What’s right about him?” Tommy looked. “You’re right, why doesn’t he look like the others.?” It took me a minute to figure it out. “The blood. The blood on his shirt is fresh. He just killed something recently.” I said. Charlie looked at Tommy and they both looked at me. “So?” they said.
I sighed. You gave them eyes, Lord, but they refuse to see, I thought. “Fresh blood means fresh kill. Fresh kill means there might be more survivors.”
That changed their expressions. Charlie looked at the dark opening and hefted his tomahawks. Tommy followed suit and gripped his crowbar tighter. I signaled to Sarah to watch the vehicle as we closed on the door and stepped inside.
The interior was dark, but the light spilling in the doorway provided a decent amount of light. The storeroom was filled with boxes, pallets, and assorted crates. I signaled Tommy to head to the left while Charlie broke off to the right. I went straight ahead staying in the light. I could see the wall of the storeroom in front of me, and I edged my way towards it, checking the aisles as I went by. Every ten steps I stopped and listened, and I could see Tommy and Charlie doing the same. I could see a body in the shadows on the left side, but it wasn’t moving. Tommy bent down to check it, and shook his head at me. Dead for sure.
Passing the third aisle, a small hand shot out and grabbed my foot. “Whoa!” I whispered loudly, causing Charlie to pause and Tommy to straighten up. I looked down and it was a small child, about three years old. It was a girl, judging by its clothes, but that was where the resemblance ended. Her hair was mostly torn off, like it had been trying to escape something that had grabbed it, and its legs were mostly gone, save for some bones sticking out in awkward positions. That’s why it hadn’t come to greet us, it couldn’t move.
I shook off the grasping hand and stepped back before she had a chance to get close for a bite. The pathetic creature let out a groan and dragged itself closer. I drew my knife and finished it off, closing its eyes forever. Part of me was sad at the necessity, but all it takes is a moment of pity and these things will rip your throat out. We finished checking the storeroom without further incident, and regrouped back at the door with Sarah and Kristen. “We still need to check the rest of the store, but I want to send supplies back now.” I told the group. Charlie looked skeptical. “Don’t know if we want to split our forces, chief. Could be a hundred of those things in there.” Tommy concurred. “He’s right. Could be a death trap, with no way to retreat.”
I nodded. “You’re right, it could be all that, but I don’t plan on going in just yet. We’ve got a lot of food here, and the truck will take too many trips. I’m sending Sarah back with a loaded truck, and she’s coming back with the bus for the rest. Besides, if there are survivors, we’ll need the extra room.”
Charlie and Tommy agreed with me on that point, so for the next fifteen minutes we spent loading up the truck with as much as we could without running the risk of spilling anything. Sarah got in the truck and I handed her the radio. “Let Duncan know what’s up when you’re on the road, so he can get the bus ready for a quick departure.” Sarah nodded. “You want anyone else to come back with me.?” I thought for a second. “See if the doc is available, and if she is, haul her along, just in case.” Sarah rolled her eyes. “And what do I tell her is she doesn’t want to come?”
“Tell her that we’ve busted a place that has a pharmacy, and would she like to do a little shopping?” I figured that little incentive might go a long way.
Sarah shrugged. “She won’t wear a gun, you know that.”
I nodded. “I don’t really care. Give her a stick if you have to, just get her.”
Sarah smiled. “Done.” With that, she rolled away carrying the first of what I hoped to be many food trips. We were going to attract a lot of attention, but it was worth it. I had winter to worry about, and I still needed to talk to Nate about some new plans.
Tommy and Charlie and Kristen watched the truck roll away, and Charlie was the first to speak up. “We just gonna wait here, then?” I snorted. “Hell, no. We’re going in. They won’t be back for half an hour, and I want to see the situation inside.” Tommy nudged Kristen. “Told you.” He said conspiratorially. Kristen grinned at me. I flipped Tommy off and brought my gun up to the ready position. “Let’s go, we don’t have much time.”
Back inside, we stopped at the swinging doors which led to the store area. There was a window in the door, but it was useless in the dark light. I could see some light coming in the front windows, but as it got closer to the back where we were, the light was noticeably less. We had two options, bust through and let whatever was in there come at us, or creep in and hope we could gain some advantage. I looked at the aisle directly in front of me and saw it was clear. The good news was we could hold off quite a few if they had to funnel into the aisle to get us. The bad news was we could be overwhelmed if there was sufficient numbers. Always a risk, anyways.
I signaled to Charlie to hold the right, and Tommy to hold the left. Kristen was to come behind me and stay close. We pushed through the doors and headed to the middle of the aisle.
The first thing that struck me was the smell. It was nearly a physical thing that I had to wade through. Rotting meat and produce from the grocery section gave the air a sickly kind of stench. There was a smoky smell I couldn’t identify, and a definite coppery smell, like there was a lot of blood somewhere. Something had died here, and had died recently. I stopped in the aisle to get my bearings and to listen for anything attracted to the noise. I heard a thumping sound, and some groans, which told me we weren’t alone, but since the thumping hadn’t stopped, whatever it was focused on something else. I went down to the end of the aisle and peeked around. The store was surprisingly not a mess. Sure there were things on the floor, but I expected a lot worse. We worked our way down one of the center aisles, checking each row carefully for zombies. Nothing so far.
We got down to the end of the main aisle and regrouped at Lawn and Garden. The thumping sound continued unabated, which helped mask our presence. It was pretty creepy, knowing they were there somewhere, yet they didn’t know we were there.
We moved towards the outside wall, picking our way through some debris scattered on the floor. The Camping section seemed to be pretty well picked over, but I motioned Charlie to grab some karabiners, which are always useful for securing doors and gates. The next couple of aisles brought us to the sports equipment and it was interesting to note the baseball bats were all gone. Nice thought, but in the long run, not effective enough. Human heads were hard, and you needed penetration, not just force.
We passed quietly to the electronics section, and this area looked to have been looted. Not exactly sure why anyone would want anything electronic when the power was out, but some people didn’t care about that. The thumping was getting louder, and I thought I heard a voice amid the pounding. I looked at Charlie and he nodded his head. He heard it, too. Someone was alive in here.
We gripped our weapons a little tighter and moved our way towards the pounding. There was a lot of light coming in the front, and I could see why. A car had smashed through the front doors, opening up the building to anyone. A look at the car gave a grim picture as to what had happened. Someone had tried to find refuge here, and were attacked by local zombies. Dried blood covered the outside of the driver’s side of the car, and there were dark bits of flesh scattered around. On the other side of the car a body was laying on the ground, most of it had been eaten away. I could see ribs sticking out of the torso, and the organs were all missing. The flesh on the arms was shredded, and I could only imagine the fight, as what had once been a man tried to fend off his attackers. Behind me I could hear Kristen gag a little as she saw the corpse. I wondered about the little girl I had put down in the storeroom and if she had come from this car.
Pushing these thoughts aside, I raised my hand and ducked down by the car. Tommy moved to the side and
